If you’ve read our blog before, you know Bob and I aren’t massive LeBron fans. Yes, we have criticized him before, but in this situation, we can put all that aside, something like this is something you don’t wish on anyone or their family. I put Bronny and the whole James family in my prayers last night, and I hope Bronny can get well soon, I really do.
If you haven’t heard, the James family announced Monday that Bronny James, son of LeBron James and projected to go in the 2024 draft, suffered a cardiac arrest during a workout with USC, only 10 days after arriving on campus. He’s fortunately now in stable condition and out of the ICU, but Bronny isn’t out of the woods yet, on both the recovery side and career side.
This kind of event happening is extremely unlucky for Bronny, as it’s very rare for any 18-year-old to have a cardiac arrest, let alone one that has been in healthy condition their whole life. Unfortunately for Bronny, in a very best case scenario where no brain injuries happen as a result of this Cardiac Arrest, he will have to stop playing for between a few weeks and a few months.
I have been a football, or soccer, fan for a little over 7 years, and in that time, there have been 2 prevalent cardiac arrest incidents. Both players survived, but one case was the absolute best case, and the other was the worst case. 29-year old Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during the Euro 2020 tournament, but thankfully, he was awake and in a stable condition within hours of the incident. While he needed a pacemaker, he was able to continue his career and now plays for Manchester United. The second case was Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a preseason friendly vs Werder Bremen. Again, he survived, but was in a coma for over a year after the incident, sustained permanent and severe brain damage. Needless to say, his football career was over.
While it looks like Bronny will go more like the Christian Eriksen route, his career is now in jeopardy. Hopefully he’s able to make a full recovery and (while I’m not a doctor) I believe he will, this will be the lasting image in the heads of NBA scouts of Bronny this year. While Bronny has more going for him than most players who suffer this kind of thing would, NBA scouts will now be hesitant as ever on draft night to select him, and his rapidly fluctuating draft stock was already a problem.
I truly hope the best for Bronnie, and thankfully, the college season is still 3 months away, so Bronnie has a long time to recover in time to play the full season. I also feel for the LeBron and the James family, as no family should ever go through this. I’ll be rooting for Bronny this season, that’s for sure. I’m Jim James, until next time.